Infodemic as subsequent defiance to manage pandemic: Assessing the reasons behind COVID-19 vaccine refusal.

Syeda Maryam Fatima,Sana Tariq

doi:10.46568/bios.v2i2.48

Abstract

Introduction: COVID-19 is a pandemic, which originated in 2019 and is continuing to spread with new variants. It is believed that the use of vaccines can help bring better outcomes, however, the people of Karachi have serious reservations about the vaccines because of the widespread myths. Methodology: The data has been collected in a sample size of 550 participants to find out the correlation between the acceptances of the COVID-19 vaccine. It shows the association between exposure to the virus, administration of a vaccine, reasons behind acceptance and rejection of vaccine, and feared outcomes from May 2020 to June 2021. Results: The results show that 401 people were vaccinated while people received vaccination for better protection, and to retain their salary and travel nationally or internationally. For those who refused to get vaccinated, the majority feared that the rumor about infertility may be true while some did not consider it important. The types of rumors included planting chips, death in two years, infertility, and side effects. Some people feared side effects such as body pain, infections, and infertility. Discussion: As compared to previous researches, the strong anti-vaccine sentiments in the people of Pakistan may be reducing as more people continue to get vaccinated every day. However, there is still a need to educate the mass population about the benefits of vaccines to combat the myths and increase the ratio of the overall vaccinated population

Highlights

COVID-19 is a pandemic, which originated in 2019 and is continuing to spread with new variants
We have asked whether they have taken the shot or not, and what was the reason behind it. Another question was about the platform from which they have heard the rumors about COVID-19 vaccines, what type of rumors they have heard the most, and what kind of adverse outcomes do they fear might happen after the shot
Similar to a study that showed that the major source of rumors for COVID-19 vaccination was social media [18], this study supports the claim that most of the rumors are spread by Facebook (14.7%) and Whatsapp (7.5%)

Summary

Introduction

COVID-19 is a pandemic, which originated in 2019 and is continuing to spread with new variants. As the pandemic continues to expand, it is known that variants of coronavirus, “SARS-CoV-2”, are responsible for causing COVID-19 It was first discovered in the province of Wuhan, China in December 2019. Pakistan has a population of 216.6 million people, out of which 1.9 million people are vaccinated, making up 0.8% of the total population To make it accessible for everyone, the government has set up vaccination centers in a lot of private and public hospitals, as well as, educational institutions and shopping malls. The government of Pakistan is trying to convince the citizens of Pakistan to get vaccinated by offering privileges to those having a vaccination certificate These privileges include unrestricted entry to public places such as parks and restaurants and permission to travel within the country and attend social events. The rising mortality rate of COVID has highlighted the need of getting vaccinated and the myths should be handled by the government to combat the spread of this virus

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